AI services from a designer near Milwaukee
I help small and midsize businesses and their marketing teams around Milwaukee and the Midwest use AI where it makes their design and marketing better, and leave it out where it doesn't. I write brand systems for AI, use AI in my own design work where it helps, set up the automation around it, and help teams choose and learn their tools. I'm Keegan Gunnlaugsson, an independent designer working as With KG in Elm Grove, Wisconsin, just outside Milwaukee. Clients farther away are welcome too.
My promise
Nothing AI-made reaches you without my review, and nothing ships without your sign-off.
I'm a designer first
I spent fifteen years as the only in-house designer at OneTouchPoint, a print and brand management company. I also ran marketing operations there and led the company's AI enablement. Now I do the same work independently, as With KG.
Every project starts with me and an idea. I decide where AI helps the work and where it would get in the way. That judgment is the useful part, and it comes from years of doing the work by hand.
AI tools can make a lot of things quickly. Whether those things are right for your brand is a design question, and I treat it as one. So this page says plainly where I use AI and where I don't.
What's included
The four parts
Each part works on its own, so start with whichever fits what you need now. I do all of it myself.
Brand systems for AI
Your team may already use AI tools for social posts and first drafts. I write the files that help those tools start closer to your brand: a style guide written for AI, reference images with notes on what each one is for, and instructions your team can load into the tools they use.
What comes back is easier to fix and closer to what you'd approve. It still needs a person to check it before it goes out.
AI in the design work
When I design something for you, I may use AI to look at more directions early or to get through production chores faster. The idea is mine, and so is every decision about what goes on the page. Ask me where AI played a part and I'll tell you.
This is part of how I work, so it's priced inside the design project. There's no separate line for it on your invoice.
Automation
Some of the most useful AI work sits inside the everyday workflows of a marketing team. It might be a first draft of a follow-up email or a form confirmation, which I then rewrite before anything sends.
I set these up as part of my automation work in HubSpot and Salesforce, and that has its own page.
Setup and training
I help your team choose AI tools that fit the work you do, set them up with your brand files, and learn to use them well. It usually starts with a half-day session, in person around Milwaukee or over video, and a follow-up a few weeks later [to confirm].
[Whether ongoing support is included, or offered as a monthly option.]
An example
The Manuscrito engraving system
[Before and after: a reference image and a new scene made with the system]
No. 005
From the Chapter Two labelShown for its style. It's the style the system is written to hold.
Manuscrito Tequila was started by three friends from Brookfield, Wisconsin, and its labels carry engraved scenes. Each new release needs new ones, and some scenes have to carry on past the edge of one label into the label beside it. In 2026 I built a system for the releases coming next, to help new scenes match the style already on the shelf.
How it works
It's a Claude project made of written files: project instructions, a master style system, material rendering rules, a reference hierarchy and prompt templates.
Each image prompt takes a style reference, used for style only, and a content reference, which sets what's shown and how it's composed. When a scene continues from a neighboring label, that label's art goes in as well, so the scene can carry on across the edge.
The style it holds
Vintage hand-engraved commercial illustration from the late 1800s to the early 1900s. The rules call for directional hatching, crosshatching built up through density, light shown by how dense the hatching is and never by glow, warm paper showing through, and a hand-colored tint.
What I control
I decide what each scene shows and which results go forward. Every scene comes to me first, and nothing goes on a label without Manuscrito's sign-off.
[Image to come]
AI enablement at OneTouchPoint
Before I went out on my own, I led AI enablement at OneTouchPoint, alongside my design and marketing operations work.
[The AI enablement program I led at OneTouchPoint: what it covered, for how many people, what changed.]
Where it fits
Where I use AI, and where I don't
I use it for
- Exploring more directions early, before I narrow them down by hand
- Mockups and placement tests, to see a label on a bottle or a sign on a wall before anything is printed
- Production chores, like resizing, cutouts, extending a background or making variations of a finished layout
- First drafts of routine copy for automation, like follow-up emails and form confirmations, which I then rewrite
- Organizing and checking files before they go to a printer
- Written rules and reference images that hold a brand's look, like the engraving system I built for Manuscrito
I don't use it for
- Your logo or brand mark
- Final illustration, unless we've agreed on it together and you know how it was made
- The words on your website, unless you ask
- Anything that would pass as a real photo of your people or place, unless we've agreed on it and it's labeled honestly
- Decisions about what your brand should say or stand for
[Draft lists: confirm each item.]
Your rules
You decide how much AI touches your project, including none. Tell me at the start, and change your mind whenever you like.
If you'd rather I not use it at all, I won't. Sometimes that makes a job take longer or cost more, mostly in production work. If it does, I'll say so up front, before we agree on a price.
Either way, the promise holds. Nothing AI-made reaches you without my review, and nothing ships without your sign-off.
What gets faster or cheaper
Early rounds cover more ground in the same time, so you see more options before choosing one.
Production chores that used to take an afternoon take less of one. That time comes off your invoice or goes back into the design.
Your team's AI tools start closer to your brand, so fewer pieces need fixing later.
Some parts take as long as they always have. Deciding what your brand should say and how it should look is slow, careful work, and I don't rush it.
Questions
Questions about AI
Will my work look AI-made?
It shouldn't. I use AI for things like early options and production chores, and I make the design decisions myself. Your logo and brand mark are made without it. Everything gets my review before you see it, and if something looks AI-made, it doesn't go out.
Who owns AI-assisted work?
You own the finished work you pay for, the same as any other project. One thing to know: under current US copyright rules, parts made entirely by AI may not be protected on their own. That's one reason your logo and brand mark are made without AI. [How my contract covers AI-assisted work, to confirm.]
Do you train AI on my files?
Your files go into an AI tool only when it helps your project, and only as references for that work. The Manuscrito engraving system works this way: their label art goes in as reference images, inside a project set up for them. [How I store and use client files with AI tools.] If you'd rather your files stay out of AI tools entirely, tell me and they will.
Can you set up our team's tools?
Yes. I'll help you choose AI tools that fit the work your team does, set them up with your brand files, and teach people to use them well, in person around Milwaukee or over video. Setup and training starts at $1,200 [suggested, to confirm]. [Which tools I set up, and whether follow-up support is included.]
What does a brand system for AI include?
Usually a style guide written for AI tools, reference images with notes on what each one is for, and instructions your team can load into the tools they already use. The aim is work that starts closer to your brand and is easier to fix. It still needs a person to check it before it goes out. Brand systems for AI start at $2,500 [suggested, to confirm].
Can I say no to AI?
Yes. You decide how much AI touches your project, including none. If you'd rather I not use it at all, I won't. If that changes the timeline or the price, I'll tell you before we start.
Which AI tools do you use?
It depends on the job. The Manuscrito engraving system is a Claude project, made of written rules and reference images. [Other AI tools I use, and what I use each one for.] If your team already has tools, I'm glad to start with those.
Build with KG.